Desktop computers have become an essential piece of office equipment in many businesses and industries, as well as in the home. Indeed many workers now spend much of their time working on a computer, while for others the time spent using a computer is only occasional. In the latter situation the computer may be shared by several users.
Frequently these desktop computers have been placed on top of standard office desks, which were not particularly designed to accommodate a desktop computer. Therefore, it is not surprising that such an arrangement does not always provide the most ergonomic positioning of the computer's input and output devices, e.g., video display terminal (VDT) and keyboard, relative to the user. In response to this problem various desks specifically designed to accommodate computer equipment and associated peripheral devices have been designed.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,640,485 Day et al. disclose an adjustable monitor stand for use on a standard office desk, which allows for height adjustment as well as swivel and tilt of the monitor.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,669,789 Pemberton discloses a computer desk having a pivotal compartment for housing a monitor, and an extendable shelf for supporting a keyboard.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,717,112 Pirkle discloses a support frame for use on a standard office desk, which has a fixed height video display support surface and a slidable shelf unit for supporting a keyboard and digitizer surface.
In related U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,766,422 and 4,735,467 Wolters et al. disclose a computer desk having a motorized height adjustable flat screen VDT, a hidden compartment for housing a keyboard, and various side compartments for housing other peripheral devices.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,781,126 Lochridge discloses an adjustable desk-top assembly which has a motorized adjustable work surface capable of assuming a slope and having the general form of a semi-circle.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,828,342 Stefan discloses a convertible computer desk which may be converted from a conventional appearing desk configuration into a configuration in which computer equipment, such as a monitor may be raised from an internal storage compartment to desktop level. The desk also contains a concealable keyboard support shelf.
A few manufacturers of modular office furniture offer computer workstation units having adjustable support surfaces. For example, Inotec Systems, Inc. manufactured an electrically adjustable stand, model EDP2100, having dual surfaces with independently adjustable height and tilt. The forward surface is also slidable. Haworth, Inc., has proposed a workstation stand having independently motorized support surfaces with height adjustment only. While the modular workstation stands are quite functional in many respects, they fail to offer much in the way of desktop work space. Indeed, a support surface which is at a good height for a keyboard is often too low to be conveniently used for desktop activities. Another characteristic of these units is their non-traditional, more modern appearance. Preferences in furniture styles vary widely with many people, especially executives and professionals, preferring more traditional styles. How a piece of furniture looks is often more important to the purchaser than how it functions.
While it is true that the above computer desks and monitor stands offer some degree of adjustability, they do not, however, offer the full degree of adjustability necessary when considering the entire computer desk or work station as an integrated system, i.e., a seated user, computer desk, VDT and keyboard. This lack of adequate adjustability is apparent by noting that the keyboard supports and shelves of the prior art have essentially a fixed height relative to the floor. This fact is important when considering size differences between users and the height at which they sit most comfortably.
Seating is an integral part of the overall work environment. Indeed, viewing the work are as an integrated system brings out the importance of how adjustable seats interact with the other furniture and computer components, and how these interactions influence user comfort. The primary purpose of seating is to provide support and stability for the seated person. A well-designed chair will favorably affect posture, circulation, the amount of effort required to maintain posture, and the amount of strain on the spine. Furthermore, a well-designed chair will provide comfort for static posture as well as allowing for freedom of movement. To accomplish these purposes, the height of a seat should allow the user to place his or her feet firmly on a support surface to provide stability for the seated posture and provide adequate lower leg support. Therefore, a user that may ergonomically have the correct seat height may be in an uncomfortable position relative to the fixed height of the keyboard.
It has been shown that incorrect positioning of the user relative to the keyboard is a significant cause of carpal tunnel syndrome, an inflammatory condition of the carpal nerve in the wrist. Therefore it is important to provide the user with computer furniture which will allow him or her to be seated at the ergonomically correct seat height and with an ergonomically proper position relative to the keyboard.
Another important aspect of user comfort is eye strain. Standards and guidelines aimed at reducing the problems, e.g., headaches, tired eyes, etc., related to frequent use of a VDT have been set forth in ANSI/HFS 100-1988 (American National Standards Institute/Humane Factors Society). An important factor affecting eye strain is the relative positional relationships between the keyboard, VDT and user. A consideration within these relationships is the viewing distance between the user, and the VDT and keyboard. A comfortable viewing distance for the VDT is a function of not only the size of the displayed characters but also of the user's ability to maintain focus and alignment of the eyes. Visual skills vary among people, and some people may use corrective lenses for some visual deficiencies.
In particular, as people get older their ability to focus on an object that is close deteriorates because of hardening of the lenses. Indeed few people over sixty years old can focus on objects closer than forty inches without corrective lenses, such as bifocals. Because of the special nature of bifocals and other multisegmented eyeglasses, it is often difficult to position the keyboard and VDT relative to the user in a comfortable arrangement. This task is made even more difficult given that it is advantageous to locate frequently viewed surfaces, such as a document holder for reference material and the display screen, at or near the same optical distance. Thus, the eye-to-document holder distance and the eye-to-VDT distance should be about the same.
A concern with adjustable computer desks is the manner in which the adjustments are made. Frequently manual operations are required to adjust the desk. This may not only be inconvenient, but these operations often require the user to lean or bend over the desk. This may place undue stress on the user's lower back which may cause back injury. Moreover, in situations where the desk is used by several different users, manual adjustment may be viewed by these users to be so burdensome that whatever position the desk is in will be "lived with". Hence these users may not be in the most ergonomic position for using the desk.
In view of the above, it is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a traditional appearing desk which is designed for supporting components of a computer system, and which is ergonomically comfortable both physically and optically for a wide range of users.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a desk for supporting components of a computer system which is convenient to adjust.